#OptOutside
REI2015
#OptOutside is a 2015 business action and integrated campaign for REI, created by Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco.
Why it works
The anti-promotion: on Black Friday 2015, the biggest shopping day of the year, outdoor retailer REI closed all 143 stores, paid its 12,000 employees to go outside, and blacked out its own e-commerce homepage with an invitation to join. The business action was the advertising — a co-op proving its values by refusing revenue — and the hashtag became a movement adopted by other organizations and millions of people, with membership growth to show for it. It won both the Titanium and Promo & Activation Grand Prix at Cannes 2016. It is studied as the canonical case of 'brand behavior beats brand claims': the most persuasive thing a company can say is something it actually does, especially when it visibly costs something.
Techniques
- Ethos Proves a co-op's values by closing every store on the year's biggest shopping day, a visible cost that makes the claim believable.
- Participation Invites people to head outdoors instead of shopping, and the hashtag is taken up by other organisations and millions of people.
- Purpose and cause Ties the brand to time spent outdoors rather than consumption, paying its staff to go outside on Black Friday.
Sources · 3
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